


Let It Be Me

by Sophia Loving (sophialoving)



Series: The Switch Up Universe [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-26
Updated: 2013-04-26
Packaged: 2017-12-09 13:29:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/774753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophialoving/pseuds/Sophia%20Loving
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After falling for the wrong people, they were both just looking for someone to love. When an act of kindness drives him to seek her out, Sam finds there's a lot more to Rachel than he ever realized.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What's the Story, Morning Glory?

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is set after Jesse & Rachel’s duet of Rolling in the Deep.

Sam was meant to meet with Rachel in the choir room to rehearse for the glee club’s latest assignment. They were meant to prepare a party song with a celebratory mood to sing at the prom but when Rachel had failed to show up after half an hour, the blond went looking for some answers. Step one was a mass text to all of the other members of New Directions. Nothing helpful appeared until Kurt’s first text appeared.

_Rachel’s been acting weird and evasive lately. This is like Jesse St. James all over again. Bad news._

That text message had Sam digging a little bit more into the previous year’s drama, which Kurt was all too happy to share over some caffeinated drinks at the Lima Bean, claiming it was a story that was too long to tell via text messages. It was going to be helpful to have that insight but he needed something more immediate. Kurt, unfortunately, had nothing to provide. Then another text showed up from Puck that caught his attention.

_Guys, was visiting Beth with Quinn. Overheard Shelby on the phone, something about Jesse in town._

Sam ventured a guess that the text was meant for everyone who had been in New Directions the previous year, but he had been included as part of the glee club’s texting list. It didn’t really make sense to him, although he figured it was the same Jesse from Kurt’s text.

He wandered around the school until he found Rachel sitting in the front row in the auditorium, appearing to be deep in thought. 

“Rachel Berry, just the person I wanted to see,” he said casually as he approached her.

“Hmmm?” Rachel looked up to find Sam standing in the aisle, just a few seats away from her, and her eyes flashed with an apologetic expression.

“You look surprised to see me,” Sam pointed out the obvious; “I thought we were supposed meet in the choir room.”

Rachel, who really wasn’t ready to attack the assignment with her usual ambitious and aggressive vigour, replied casually, “Yeah, I got caught up in something just now. I’m sorry.”

Sam hadn’t been a part of the glee club for very long and wasn’t particularly close to Rachel or most of the group, but even he recognized the unusual behaviour from one of the co-captains of the glee club. He let it slide in the moment as he watched her leave from her seat and head towards the exit of the auditorium. 

Following Rachel towards the choir room, Sam asked, “Hey, what’s been going on with you, Rachel?”

“What do you mean, what’s been going on? Nothing. Nothing’s been going on.”

“I’m just curious; usually, you’re all over glee club assignments.”

Rachel shrugged. “I’m just really not that motivated to prepare a song for the prom,” she explained, “We should be working on our set list for Nationals.”

“I know that,” Sam replied, “And I don’t disagree with you but since we have to sing at the prom, I figured we could something fun together. You know, like that Friday song?”

Rachel exhaled sharply and explained, “I think I’m going to be flying solo for the performance. You, Mercedes and I are still going to the prom together, but I have a song in mind that I want to sing. By myself.”

Sam felt a little disappointed but he had a Plan B – He would ask Artie and Puck. 

“Did you want to talk about it?”

“About what?”

“Whatever’s bothering you, Rachel. You seem a little...distracted.”

Rachel was a bit taken aback by Sam’s concern. They hadn’t been particularly close until she decided to go on a stakeout with Finn and learned the secret about his family. She didn’t expect her nosiness would be repaid in kind. 

“An old friend of mine, Jesse, he’s back in town and I was wondering if it would bother you to have him join the group for prom.”

Sam shrugged. While he still had Kurt’s warning fresh in his mind, he saw no reason to say no to Rachel, especially since he wasn’t aware of the full story.

“No, no, not at all,” he told her, “The more the merrier!”

While he went to his locker to retrieve some books, he saw Finn intercept Rachel. Having his locker nearby meant Sam could hear every word exchanged between the two co-captains of the glee club. 

“So I heard a nasty rumor that Jesse St. James is back in town and I also heard that he’s going to be your date to the prom.”

The same Jesse St. James that Kurt had mentioned in his text seemed to be a cause for concern according to Finn so he continued to eavesdrop at his locker.

“No, he’s joining Mercedes and Sam and I on our prom on a budget. He’s going to be in town for a while though, so I’m not sure what’s going to come of it.”

Finn went on about what he did to Rachel and how awful he was and Sam decided it was best to walk away at this point. He needed to touch base with Puck and Artie to see if they would prepare the song with him for the prom and he needed to see Kurt about this Jesse St. James.


	2. Higher Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rachel convinces Mercedes to agree to let Jesse join their group for the prom.

Sam was a relatively easy sell; he was the new kid, the one who had no idea of the back story behind the sordid drama with Jesse the previous year. Rachel knew that talking to Mercedes would a heck of a lot more challenging, especially since she was there at the time of the incident. Between spending the whole day dodging Sam’s questions and the coffee date with Mercedes after the glee club practice, Rachel was definitely stressing the entire day. And when Jesse had asked her to come out and have lunch with her, she asked if they could dinner instead. She hoped by then she could offer him an answer about her prom plans. 

By the time her school day was over and she walked over to The Lima Bean to meet with Mercedes, Rachel was somewhat exhausted. It wasn’t just about going through the motions of school and the glee club practice, but she was a lot more stressed than she was used to. The truth was, Sam was one of two who didn’t know about the whole Jesse ordeal and the only one that mattered. She didn’t want the prom to be affected by events of the previous year. She just...well, she wasn’t sure what she wanted at this point. Going to the prom with a group seemed like a safe thing to do.

She was her vocal equal, she was a strong personality and she wasn’t afraid to tell it like it is. Mercedes was the true test, if she couldn’t get this past the girl, then she would have to lie to Jesse about her prom plans, which wasn’t a problem since she had contemplated doing it anyway, but a part of her missed him, despite the eggs. If Finn could forgive Quinn, certainly she could forgive Jesse, right? She had to wonder...

She entered the coffee shop, scanning the vicinity for a familiar face and found Mercedes sitting at a table by the window with a drink in hand. She gestured towards the counter and signalled to the other girl that she would be on her way. After purchasing her drink, Rachel joined Mercedes at the table and sat down in front of her.

“So, is it true what I heard, about Jesse St. James being back in town?”

She shouldn’t have surprised by Mercedes’ abrupt bluntness but yet she was still taken aback by it. Rachel took a sip of her low fat soy caramel macchiato before she replied, “Yes, it’s true, he’s back in town.”

“So you’re ditching me and Sam for a guy who broke eggs over your head?” Mercedes continued on, her voice taking on a confused yet sassy tone.

And that’s when it hit Rachel that she needed to convince Mercedes to have Jesse come along. “Well, I was thinking...I thought maybe it would be nice to have Jesse as a fourth person in our group...so it’s not weird, you know, with dancing and stuff.”

Mercedes just looked at Rachel with a sceptical look.

“Sharing Sam as a prom date wasn’t the ideal plan for you, Mercedes. I want you to get the boy who will tell you that you look beautiful and take you for a spin on the dance floor, and after getting to know him, I think Sam would do that for you,” Rachel went on with a sincere look on her face, “Jesse will be there as...someone to keep me occupied, that’s all, a distraction. I’m not about to let him in again. It’s not gonna happen. That would be stupid. It’s just that, no one deserves to be alone. And maybe there’s the tiniest part of me that believes he’s changed and maybe we could be friends.”

Mercedes took notice of the second half of her mini-monologue but did not address it at that moment. Instead, she took the offer at face value, and she had to admit to herself that it was a sincere gesture from Rachel.

“Okay, Rachel, I’ll bite, but if he steps even one toe out of line, I’m beating his sorry white boy ass,” she said threateningly, then she said with a soft tone of voice, “I hope for your sake, he’s changed.”

“It’s not even like I’m just going to fall back into his arms,” Rachel pointed out, “He wants to have dinner, and we’re going to the prom, as a group. If he tries anything, I know you guys will have my back.”

Mercedes raised an eyebrow. “Dinner?”

“Trust me, Mercedes, I have this under control.”

“I hope so.”


	3. Second Hand News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam learns all about Jesse St. James from an unexpected source.

No one understood the destructive power of a rumor more than Sam did. He was the last person to jump to conclusions because of the way he had been previously treated. So when he heard the name Jesse St. James, he decided that talking to those who knew of him was the first logical step. Choosing the right people to talk was the tricky part of the whole situation. Running down the list of glee club members, he mentally crossed off the obvious names. Finn. There was no way he would help Sam win Rachel’s heart. Lauren, who wasn’t around the glee club at all the previous year, was also out of the running. He had been meaning to ask Kurt but with all the babysitting he needed to do, it hadn’t worked out with schedules and stuff.

A text message appeared on his phone as he sat on the bed with his siblings, watching cartoons with them, his chemistry textbook open on his lap.

 _Still interested in hearing about Jesse St. James?_

Quinn. He never thought that his blonde ex-girlfriend would help him since she wasn’t really that fond of Rachel even though she had been a really good friend to him, helping him babysit. He hadn’t expected Quinn to offer up information, considering the circumstances, even though he had initially texted the entire glee club for information. 

_Is it the kind of story you can tell me around the kids?_

Sam sent the message as he pretended to read his textbook. He really hadn’t been concentrating much on schoolwork or his siblings. He was still trying to figure out whether he would take up Quinn’s offer or not.

_Sure, unless they’re disturbed by the destruction of eggs._

Sam gave his phone a confused look as he saw Quinn’s response. He glanced at his siblings watching TV and decided it wouldn’t harm them to have Quinn around. Stacy liked having another girl around and Stevie really took to her too.

_All right, I’ll bite. You can help me babysit while you tell me this story._

No matter what happened, Sam couldn’t stay angry at Quinn for too long. It was often said that you always forgive your first love anything and he was certainly no exception to this...

“Hey, Sammy, is Quinn coming over again?” Stacy’s tiny voice reached his ears.

Sam dropped his books on the floor and replied, “Yeah, Quinn’s coming over.”

He noticed the two kids exchange looks before going back to watching TV and he wondered what was going through his younger siblings’ minds. He reached over to the side table and grabbed an apple to snack on and cuddled with his brother and sister until a knock on the door reminded him of the visitor he was expecting. 

As the kids napped, Sam got off the bed and opened the door for the blonde standing outside. He led her in and offered her a chair before he sat down on the corner of the bed.

“Why are you here?” Sam asked quietly, traces of hurt subtly emerging from his voice.

Quinn sighed. “I felt really bad about what happened last week, you know?” she said, her voice equally as subdued, “I’m not a bad person, just a good person who makes bad decisions.”

“So you’re volunteering this information about Jesse St. James out of the kindness of your own heart, to earn my forgiveness?”

“Popularity makes you someone in high school...I just want to be somebody...” Quinn said with a shrug, “I know that’s no excuse to stomp all over your heart...”

“It’s the reason I joined the football team,” Sam told her, understanding her perspective, “But it doesn’t mean your cheating hurts any less...”

Quinn nodded. “I know that,” she said quietly, “I understand if you never forgive me. But you deserve to be happy. And if Rachel will make you happy, I have to help...just like I had to help your family. ”

Sam was a little bit shocked. “No no no, it’s not like that. I just wanted to know more about the guy joining our group for prom. This isn’t about...”

“That’s what you think,” Quinn said with an amused chuckle, “You’ll fall for the same things Finn fell for; I can almost guarantee it.”

“Stop being smug and tell me what you came here to tell me,” Sam replied, slightly annoyed at Quinn, “Preferably, before the kids wake up.”

Quinn outlined the entire story, from Rachel and Finn’s earliest break up, to Jesse St. James’ transfer to McKinley and his mission to reunite his choir director with her biological daughter, to Rachel’s demise with the eggs. Sam took in every detail Quinn provided, trying to process everything.

“I don’t understand why she would let him back into her life after all that...” he commented with a confused expression on his face.

“This is what you’re up against,” Quinn warned him, “That and her lingering feelings for Finn.”

“You’re a lot less bothered by that than I thought you would be,” Sam pointed out.

“The sooner you realize you can’t compete, the better it is for your sanity,” Quinn said with a sigh, “I thought I could get what he and I had freshman year back...but a part of Finn’s always going to belong to Rachel now.”

“It still hurts, doesn’t it?” 

Quinn simply nodded. 

“Well, you’re the one who has him now, so you should be happy,” Sam pointed out with an edge to his voice.

With a soft sigh, Quinn replied, “I don’t even know anymore...”

“I hope you sort things out before you end up alone forever,” Sam told her as he picked up his chemistry textbook.

“Do you need help with that?” Quinn replied, gesturing at the textbook, swiftly changing the subject.

Sam shrugged as Quinn took her notebook and textbook out of her bag, and they fell back into old habits.


	4. One More First Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And this is how it came to be that Rachel let Jesse join her group for prom.

Breadstix seemed like a good idea for a neutral place to meet with Jesse, or so Rachel thought. She hadn’t thought about the fact that the restaurant was a frequent destination for many of the members of the glee club as well as other students at McKinley. The last thing she had wanted was for any of her friends to make a fuss about her dinner with the one who had betrayed her. Was the concept of forgiveness really a bad idea to consider? She hadn’t really known either way, but after her on-and-off relationship with Finn had gotten off again in favour of him reuniting with Quinn, Rachel had given up fighting for the person she thought she always wanted. Instead, she was going to translate the confidence she had in herself and her talent to the other aspects of her life. She was choosing herself for a change. She was choosing to let go. Whether forgiveness was there or not, it was no longer as relevant. She was in control, or so she thought.

As she stepped in the restaurant she regularly frequented, there was a sense of trepidation she couldn’t shake. Rachel was more nervous than she was heading up on stage. But she had to keep her wits about her – she was determined not let Jesse get the best of her. 

The first thing she noticed when her eyes met his as she walked up to his table was that gone was the cocky smile and the arrogant bravado that was typical of Jesse and was replaced with something strange yet familiar, almost as if the guy she had once fallen for had returned, with his warm, encouraging smile. She sat down, taking in his every feature, from the way his lips curled into a slight smile to the way his eyes looked at her as if she was the only girl in the room.

As she made each careful move towards him, she refused to let herself forget about his misdeeds. With a steely determination and her best poker face, Rachel sat down in front of Jesse as he greeted her.

“Hello, Rachel,” he said in his usually arrogant manner, “I see you weren’t able to resist my earlier offer about your Prom.”

Rachel raised an eyebrow and replied, her tone matching his, “This has nothing to do with our past. Whatever feelings may have exists in my heart for you died when you broke those eggs on my head.”

“Then why are you here?” 

Rachel had been so busy mentally preparing herself for whatever offensive attack she could anticipate that she hadn’t really thought about why she was there. But she refused to let one simple question throw her off.

“I am a lot of things, Jesse, but unreasonable isn’t one of them,” she told him after taking a moment to regain her composure, “I came to hear you out. I think you’re the one who should be answering that question.”

“I already told you – academic issues brought me home.”

Rachel narrowed her eyes at him. “That part, I understood. But why did you come to me asking about **my** date to **my** prom?”

“Because I had to let you know somehow that I’m sorry – that I was sorry back then, and I’m still sorry now.”

Rachel certainly wasn’t expecting an apology from Jesse. She blinked quickly, unsure of how to react to his statement. There was no way in hell he could rationalize turning on her and throwing eggs at her to a point where she could forgive him. This response wasn’t unreasonable; taking him to the prom was above and beyond reasonable, it was downright angelic in this situation. But she made a split second decision and she needed to follow through with it before she could change her mind.

“If you’re really sorry, prove it to me. Show me how sorry you are,” she challenged him, “Come to the prom and show everyone you’ve changed. Win my friends over, and we’ll talk.”

Jesse wore a defiant look on his face. “Challenge accepted, Miss Berry,” he was quick to tell her.


	5. Adding to the Noise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam confronts Rachel about Jesse.

Her voice rang clear from the choir room. Sam was a man on a mission and it didn’t take long for him to find Rachel that afternoon. He had wanted to discuss Jesse St. James with her but not before he had gotten more information from the rest of the glee club. This time, he was ready to talk. Whether she was ready to have this conversation or not, he had to ask her about Jesse. Sam followed the sound of her voice all the way to the choir room and stood in the doorway to listen to her for a moment before he interrupted her.

“Hey Rachel,” he greeted her, interrupting her mid-lyric.

Rachel jumped in surprise, turning around to face him. “Hey…” she said carefully, leaning against the piano.

“What are you up to?” he asked casually, “Preparing a song for Nationals?”

“My song for the prom,” she explained, “If you can’t beat them, join them I guess.”

Nodding his head approvingly, Sam flashed Rachel a brief smile before his expression turned serious again. “We need to talk about prom,” he explained with an edge to his voice as his eyes betrayed him, exposing a vulnerability he had been trying to hide.

Rachel immediately felt a sense of alarm as she listened to Sam speak. “Sure…” she said tentatively as Sam approached her. She sat on the piano bench in front of him and added, “Is everything okay?”

“I know all about your friend Jesse,” Sam stated as he stood, towering over her.

Rachel exhaled sharply and buried her head in her hands for a short moment before she dared to look up at Sam, who wore a questioning look on his face. “How much do you know?” she asked quietly.

“I talked to Kurt and Quinn – I know enough,” he told her, “What I don’t understand is why you would let a jerk like that back into your life.”

“I’ve forgiven Finn,” she explained with a shrug, “And he’s forgiven Quinn for worse, it seems.” Wincing at Sam’s expression, she averted his gaze and added, “Too soon?”

“No, don’t worry about it,” Sam said quietly, looking down at his feet, “You always forgive your first love anything. It’s just the way it is.”

“No, not this time, Sam; Finn’s made his choice,” Rachel said stubbornly, standing up and lifting his chin with her finger to look into his eyes, “And there is no way the rest of the glee club would ever let Jesse forget what he did…”

“But is there a way for **you** to forgive him?” Sam countered, cutting her off, his crystal blue eyes locked into hers with a strong intensity.

Rachel felt trapped. A part of her was terrified to be honest with Sam because it meant she needed to be honest with herself about what she wanted. Playing it safe, she replied, “I don’t know, Sam…”

All Sam could do was shake his head. “Forget it Rachel, I heard what I needed to hear.”

Instinctively, Rachel reached out for his hand before he could take more than a couple of steps forward. “Sam, wait…” she called out to him as her fingers locked with his.

Sam stopped moving and pulled his hand away from her without saying a word.

“Sam, please…I understand if you wanna reconsider, but Mercedes and I would miss you at Prom,” Rachel told him, her eyes pleading with him as he turned around.

Sam bit his lower lip, making his frustration known on his face as he tried to sort out what to say. “I’m still going,” he said firmly, “but it’s just because I want to look out for you. It’s the least I could do after you bought my guitar back.”

“But everyone helped with that though!” Rachel was quick to point out.

“But it was **your** idea, wasn’t it?” Sam asked with a clear insistent tone in his voice. He took Rachel’s reluctance to speak as an admission and continued on softly. “I know we haven’t really been **that** close but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about what happens to you. I just don’t wanna see you get hurt…”

“Just like you got hurt?,” Rachel finished his thought. When Sam faltered and failed to respond, she added, “I really appreciate your looking out for me, Sam. I’m really lucky to have a friend like you. Thank you.” 

Touched by his words, Rachel promptly wrapped her arms around him after she spoke. Sam wasn’t sure how to react at first but he eventually reciprocated the hug. 

“I promise we’ll have a great time!” she exclaimed excitedly, as though she was talking about another solo for the glee club, “Mercedes and I will make sure of that!”

Sam gave Rachel a cute little half-smile. “Trust me, I’m not worried about that.”

Before Rachel could respond to Sam, glee club members began to enter the choir room, starting with Kurt and Mercedes, who had taken notice of the pair by the piano. The two exchanged looks before taking their usual seats. Rachel and Sam followed suit before anyone else entered and the rest of the glee club were none the wiser.


	6. We Danced Anyway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for prom and everything's going as planned...until Mercedes calls Sam out on his crush on Rachel.

* * *

Prom Day was relatively low key for Sam, considering he had borrowed an old suit from his Dad and he couldn’t afford to do anything fun with the guys. He spent the morning with Stevie and Stacy, watching Saturday morning cartoons while their parents were out. He had gotten invitations for go-carts and paintball and while he received generous offers, he declined anyway, opting to spend some downtime trying to figure out what had happened between him and Rachel in the choir room the other day.

In all this time spent fighting his attraction towards her, it was the first time Sam allowed himself to explore the possibilities of what Rachel might feel towards him. He knew for sure that there was something resembling friendship there, despite the fact that they weren’t necessarily close. Just because he had been a recipient of her kindness did not mean there was anything further to read into. Besides, the timing, he figured, was wrong. They were still getting over their lost loves.

Sam had thought nothing more of the situation until Stacy spoke up during his preparations later in the day.

“Are you going to the prom with Quinn?”

Taking a beat to respond, Sam told her casually, “No, sweetie, Quinn is going with someone else.”

And his thoughts drifted back to Rachel as he spoke, and found his heart aching, but not for Quinn this time, but for the girl who was the driving force behind the glee club, the girl with the powerful voice. While Stevie and Stacy moved on to go bother their parents about food, he kept his thoughts on the periphery while he got ready for the pre-prom dinner at Breadstix.

* * *

Meeting Jesse St. James for the first time was exactly the way Sam had imagined it. They all ended up sitting down at a table, listening to Jesse monopolize the conversation. He had tuned everything out as he ate, except for a moment where Finn and Quinn had arrived. He looked up, noting the tension between the couple that had approached the table and Rachel and Jesse as he exchanged looks with Mercedes, who could only offer him a shrug. 

As the meal neared its conclusion, Jesse excused himself to take a phone call, leaving Sam with Mercedes and Rachel. 

Mercedes, ever the perceptive one, caught the exchange of looks between Rachel and Sam and cleared her throat, immediately prompting the pair to divert their gazes. “Well, that was…interesting,” she commented as if she hadn’t seen a thing, “I never thought I would see that jerk again.”

“Mercedes…” Rachel began to say but withheld the rest of her thought, knowing there was nothing she could say to change her friend’s mind.

Sam saw Mercedes tilt her head, as if to prompt him to speak up. He quickly glanced at Rachel before he said, “I don’t really understand why he’s here but let’s make the most of this. Rachel wants him here; there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Rachel sent a grateful smile over, which Sam returned with an almost shy seeming half smile and a shrug. Upon Jesse’s return, they headed out towards McKinley High and their prom.

* * *

Performing with the guys had been fun and the crowd seemed quite receptive to the whole number, which was a relief. His part of the Prom entertainment was a success and he could go off to hit the dance floor. He was headed off to look for Rachel and found her heading towards the stage so he redirected his attention towards Mercedes, sitting at one of the tables nearby.

“Mercedes, may I have this dance?” he asked, offering her his hand.

While she took his hand, Mercedes grinned and replied, “Yes you may, Sam, but don’t think for a minute you have anyone fooled, especially me.”

As Mercedes stopped speaking, Rachel began to sing. Sam said nothing as he led her to the dance floor, knowing exactly what she was referring to but somehow, he was unable to find his voice. Rachel was still making him nervous despite the fact that there was a crowd between him and the stage she was singing on.

“It’s okay, Sam, you can tell me the truth,” Mercedes went on, “It says between us.”

Sam shrugged as he pulled her closer in fear of being overheard. “It’s not like I’m in love with her or anything,” he explained, “But ever since she brought my guitar over, I just, I feel drawn to her. I feel like I wanna get closer to her, and actually be her friend. I don’t even know if it’s romantic or anything. All I know in my heart is that she’s special, she’s worth getting to know.”

Mercedes never once questioned Sam’s sincerity, but what she did question was how ready he was to move forward post-breakup with Quinn. “Are you going to be okay?” she asked quietly, “It hasn’t been that long…”

“I know, Mercedes, but having Rachel around makes it hurt less,” Sam said with a shrug, “And Quinn…she and I are okay. We have an understanding.”

Mercedes nodded at Sam’s statement, then she smiled at him. “Well, you have this song to make me feel like a Princess, then you’re off the hook,” she announced.

“You got it, Princess Mercedes!”

They took a twirl around the dance floor together, Sam trying his best to make Mercedes feel special while not focusing on Rachel’s singing. When the song finally finished, they broke off.

“Go ahead, Champ!” Mercedes exclaimed, her ever-present bright smile an attempt to reassure Sam that everything was going to be okay.

Sam gave Mercedes a tight hug and a grateful smile. “Wish me luck,” he told her.

“You won’t need it,” she immediately replied, “Just be your sweet adorable dorky self.”


	7. Perfect Strangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam finally catches up with Rachel at the prom right before the Prom King and Queen are announced.

Rachel had been avoiding Sam since the beginning of the prom. Between the musical numbers they had both agreed to participate in and the sizable crowd on the dance floor, she had managed to lose him in the crowd. She thought the night had gone as planned when she saw Mercedes with Sam on the dance floor during her song so she thought it was best to continue dodging the conversation she knew Sam wanted to have with her about their conversation in the choir room. While she wondered if he was feeling the butterflies she had been feeling in her own stomach, with Jesse in the picture, she wasn't ready to open up to Sam. So she stayed with Jesse in the cover of the crowd on the dance floor.

"You were wonderful as usual," Jesse commented, "though you were a bit shaky halfway through."

Rachel merely shrugged in response to his comments. The song was meant to be an emotional release, a symbolic letting go of an old relationship through song and something she needed to do. Not expecting Jesse to understand, she didn't elaborate further on it.

"I know you're not with Hudson anymore and I thought maybe we could make a little magic like we used to," Jesse went on.

"Shut up, Jesse, you know this isn't what we agreed to," Rachel replied with a warning tone in her voice, "I haven't forgotten what you've done and neither have the others…"

Leaning in, he told her, "Your friends are irrelevant here; what matters now is this moment, you and me."

"There is no you and me," she hissed at him.

Before Rachel could pull herself away, Finn had grabbed Jesse and began to fight him. Soon, Quinn came along, upset that her date was getting kicked out of the Prom prior to the big coronation ceremony.

Rachel stopped paying attention when his familiar voice carried over the music and the crowd and asked her, "Rachel, are you okay?"

Turning away from both her ex-flames, she faced Sam and replied casually, "Yeah, sure."

"Finn has really crappy timing," Sam mused, "Aren't the Prom King and Queen going to be announced soon?"

Rachel shrugged, still lost in her thoughts. "I don't really care," she admitted, "I just want to find a seat somewhere."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were avoiding me," Sam nodded, giving her a nudge with his elbow as they sat down at the nearest table.

Rachel felt her heart sink as if he'd caught her in the act. She pushed herself to smile at him as she told him, "Well, you know, I got caught up in the excitement of it all tonight."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Sam replied, returning her smile, then playfully added, "I still can't help but feel a little ditched all the same."

"You've had Mercedes," she pointed out, matching his playful tone.

"And you ditched her too," he countered with a smirk.

Rachel let her smile fade as she thought about what to say next. "I'll make it up to you on the walk home, how about it?" she suggested, a subdued look on her face, suddenly feeling a little shy, despite the fact that she was expecting to walk him home with Mercedes as well to have that buffer.

"Good, because I would like to spend a little more time getting to know you, Rachel Berry," Sam told her, giving her nose a light tap with his finger.

Before Rachel could formulate a proper response, the crowd began to converge towards the stage for the coronation of the Prom King and Queen. Rachel turned her attention towards the stage, and Sam did the same, but did not move forward, opting to hang back as Rachel tried to get a better view.

Rachel barely managed to see what was going on in front of her but she heard every single word, from Karofsky being declared the Prom King to Kurt becoming the Prom Queen shortly after. She was shocked at the turn of events and when her eyes met with Mercedes', she knew that the other girl felt the same way.

As Mercedes and Rachel went off to talk, Sam followed them, and said, "That was messed up."

"I know," Mercedes replied, "I'm having him over for a post-prom sleepover. You guys finish out the prom and do the whole walking home deal, just like we planned." Rachel looked as though she was about to protest but was quickly cut off by Mercedes shushing her. "Trust me, Berry, I got this," she added with a bit of sass, "You can come over tomorrow but someone here deserves a full prom experience and it's up to you to deliver because I've done my part here. I'm going to find Kurt and Blaine."

In one of those rare moments, Rachel nodded slowly, feeling a little caught off guard. It was as if everything she had ever thought about her life and who she was meant to be with was suddenly turned upside down. Finn no longer monopolized her life and Jesse was no longer haunting her thoughts, which was a welcomed feeling, but something crept up unexpectedly, taking her by surprise. The Sam Factor, as she dubbed it in her own mind, was pulling her away from her usual boy traumas and that night, she realized that he was the reason her heart ached less in recent days.

Sam locked eyes with Rachel as he offered his hand to her. "Dance with me, Rachel?" he asked sweetly.

From behind Sam, Mercedes nodded at Rachel, encouraging her to say yes to him.

"I would love to," she replied as she watched Mercedes walk off to find Kurt and Blaine. She took Sam's hand and added, "Thank you."


End file.
